2015 proved to be one of Colusa’s most successful river clean-ups to date and had a record number of volunteers. Sign-up’s began around 9AM and T-shirts, gloves, data cards and collection bags were passed out shortly after. This was followed by a brief discussion of the restoration work taking place along the river. By 10AM our volunteers had branched off into several different groups and headed to their respective cleanup locations along the river.

This year, we collected a combined total of 780 lbs., of which over 90%, or 740 lbs. was recyclable.

Although this was only about half the volume we collected last year - it’s a clear indication that the efforts we’re making have been having a sustaining impact. Our goal is that each year we discover less and less debris along the waterways we’ve cleaned up in years past. This means there’s less dumping taking place and may require us to broaden the range of our clean-up in future years.

As a state, California had 55,000 volunteers across 90 sites and 54 counties. This is a testament to the dedication and commitment of individuals just like our Colusa crew who make the effort to make a difference. As a state we gathered 641,000 pounds of total debris. A majority of the items are made up of “single-use” disposable plastic items such as wrappers, cups, straws, bags and cigarette butts. This type of material is extremely harmful to wildlife and mitigating its negative impact is one of the clean-up’s main objectives.

The coastal commission also listed a few of the most unusual items found throughout the day. One was a radio that a volunteer found at a previous location in San Diego they had lost at a clean-up 3 years before.

We also had our fair share of unusual items in Colusa and even bagged another home appliance.

In summary - this blog post is mainly a thank-you to our dedicated volunteers and loyal sponsors. We couldn’t have made this happen without all of your support and continued efforts year after year.

Let us know if you have any questions and we’ll see you out on the river next year!